Confucianism and Christianity - A Comparative Study of Jen and Agape (Paperback, Revised)

The search for effective ways to enable different religious systems to co-exist peacefully in mutual complementarity has emerged as a necessary condition for economic development, social progress, human prosperity and even survival. The combination of diversity and interdependence in the religious world calls for comparative studies of religion. This book details the inherent problems of such studies.;The underlying idea presented is that there are similarities, as well as differences between Confucianism as humanistic tradition and Christianity as a theocentric religion, and that these similarities and differences are mutually involved and delicately related with each other: while agape can be translated in English as "love", it is in fact more than love, in that it defines the relationship between Christians and their God, and between Christians and their neighbours; while jen in Chinese is not the translation of "love", it is in fact essentially love, both ethical and religious, in that it defines the relationship between Confucians and their transcendantal pursuit, between Confucians and their ideal, and between Confucians and their fellow human beings.